Settlement At Last!

Well at last after much stress, a few hiccups and a last minute dash into town to deliver some cheques I have my own little piece of dirt. Settlement was at 2:30 today. Now it's just a matter of getting planning approved and hopefully if all goes well we will have a start date for building shortly. Then the real stress will begin!

Exterior Colour Change

Well for reasons I don't need to go into I have changed the Exterior Colour of the house. The brick colour is still remaining the same which is Austral Homestead Mushroom, however, the colour pallet is now in blues. The roof, guttering and down pipes are now in Colourbond Ironstone, the windows, eves and door trim in White. Cladding in Dulux Sellout, Front Door in Dulux Rainmaker, Eves, Veranda Lining, Portico Lining and Outdoor room ceiling in Dulux Lexcon Quarter (white).

No More changes!!!!!

I also got notice that due to developers regulations my house has to be sited another metre closer to the front of the block. Originally they had the portico 5 metres from the front however they have now been advised that it is the house itself that has to be 5 metres from the front of the block. Something I'm not too happy about as I presently live in a house that is twice that from the front and I like that distance from the street. Thankfully I think the new house will be on a quiet street with very little traffic apart from local traffic. I can only hope so.

My own little piece of dirt

I have chosen to have floating floorboards in the entrance, family, kitchen and dining rooms. Left is the colour I have chosen which is from the Boral Silkwood range called Tallowwood.

The picture on the left is of a narrower board, I am having 133mm wide strips. My heart would have liked blackbutt however my wallet said 'no way'. I think it is a good compromise.

House Plans

So these are the house plans showing the electricals and flooring and the room sizes. Perhaps a little small to see any great information but will give you a basic idea.

I have made two more changes to the house plans. While still having the double vanity bench space in the en-suite I am only having one basin which will be a feature of the bathroom. I am also narrowing the entrance to the sitting room. Because there are so many living areas in the house I have chosen to turn the sitting room into a craft room come study. I will have two cavity sliding doors which I can keep open and when the room is a little messy and someone is coming over I can just close the doors up. It can also become a fourth bedroom if there are a house full of guests.

Because of their added cost I have chosen not to have down lights. I was a little disappointed but after speaking with so many people who have them and have problems I have decided that I am probably better off.

Kitchen Colour Selection

Overhead cupboards: Nocturne Oak

Splash back: Stone

Caesarstone bench tops: Ice Snow

Pot drawers and lower cupboards: White

Kick rails: zinc (not shown)

Above are the colours I have selected for the kitchen. As the kitchen/family and dining room are combined I didn't want to go too dark on the kitchen and wanted to choose colours that would go well with the other rooms. I'm hoping I have succeeded with this.

I have chosen to have a single bowl under mount sink which will give me more bench space and after much research have gone with all Miele appliances including a gas cook-top and dishwasher.

The only thing that I am unhappy with is the location of the microwave which sits under the island bench. I like to be able to watch what's going on in my microwave so that things don't spill over. Having the microwave here is a little inconvenient. It had been suggested that I put it in the pantry but after watching my microwave at home and noticing all the steam that came out of it I didn't think it was a great idea.

Colour Selection

External

Brick: Austral Mushroom

Roof, Guttering, Front Door: Colourbond Loft

Facia: Colourbond Shale

Windows: Ultra Silver

Cladding: Dulux Rameau

I was really excited about the colours at first but am now having my doubts. I wanted something that was going to be a little different from the grey or green Colourbond roofs and the white or cream windows that every second house has. This left me with very little choice for windows it was either a green, black or silver. I chose the silver because it wouldn't be as noticeable on the inside but now I'm thinking I should have gone black.

I like the colour of the roof as I thought it would give me some flexibility should I want to change the cladding later on. I could look at Olives, blues, browns or greys.

I am having the standard entry door which is shown in the display home photo above. I thought it was pointless spending a lot of money on a fancy door as it is going to be hidden behind a 'crimsafe' security door anyway.

Facade of the Santorini

As my house faces west I have flipped the floor plan so that the Garage wall and bedrooms are on the south and the main living areas face North to get the best energy rating.

I have chosen not to have the render so everything rendered in this picture above will be the Austral Mushroom brickwork. The veranda will just be cement until I can afford to pave it later. The garage door is a timberlook (woodgrain finish) colourbond sectional remote control door. I am yet to choose my lighting but will have 5 outdoor lights, one on each pillar one at each end of the house and then one on the front porch so I will definitely see you coming when you come to visit.

For the driveway and path I have chosen to go with the concrete fauxtex Ashlar Slate patterned driveway in Bluestone with Charcoal finish. I am yet to decide what I am going to do with the garden but need to put plans in soon to the developer. I am open to suggestions if anyone has any, just remember the front of the house faces west so will get a lot of sun.

Let the Adventure begin

Well yesterday was a huge day for me. After paying a deposit on my own little piece of dirt back in January I got notification that after much anguish my block had titled and that settlement would be the 29th of April.

To make things even better I signed contracts and paid my deposit with Metricon to build the Santorini 26, a house I have been eyeing off for almost two years.

Why did I choose the Santorini? I really loved the open floor plan, I loved the entrance from the garage into the house and specially loved the huge walk in linen closet and the huge walk in pantry and the outdoor room sealed the deal. To add to this it was in my price range. I chose the Breeze facade as it is the least modern of all the facades they offer and those that know me will know that while I like 'modern' I want a little hint of what I grew up in.

I guess now it is going to be a long 8 months waiting for the house to be completed.

Your welcome to check back on my progress and follow me through the ups and downs of building a new house.

Let the adventure begin..............